NutVal 5: What do want it to do?

Setup
NutVal is designed to run on Excel 2010 and more recent versions.
Please note that to use NutVal you will need to allow the macros (computer code) within it to work. To ensure you can do this you may need to change your Excel macro security level.

In recent versions of Excel you you will need to set the macro security
level from the trust centre. If you need help on doing this please see
the official help pages here. For these versions we recommend you set the security level at 'Disable all macros with notification'

Training
Power Point training presentations on using NutVal are also
available in English and French.
These are designed to be used for either self-learning or for group
training sessions. Please download to your computer before trying to
open the file.

If you get an error message such as
"PowerPoint found a problem with content..." when you try and open the
Power Point file on your computer please do the following:
(1) Close the error message dialogue box without clicking Repair
(2) Right click on the file icon and select Properties
(3) Click the Unblock button on the General tab, click Apply and then OK
(4) Now reopen the file.

If you still have difficulties please email: support@nutval.net

What's new in NutVal Version 4.1

Minor corrections to help file text and navigation buttons have been made to improve clarity, and formatting on the Logistics Calculator sheet has been improved.

New foods have been added in response to requests from users. These include the WFP, USAID/USDA, and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI), specifications for fortified rice; Tahini, Yoghurt, and Herbs. As usual, specifications are indicted in the food database by adding the name of the specifying organisation in square brackets [ ]. Alternative names for foods are indicated using round brackets ( ). The use of different text colours to distinguish specifications from food composition data has been discontinued.

Special nutritional products such as RUSF, RUTF, MNP, and LNS are now listed under a new food group called SPEC. NUTR. PROD, rather than being included in the MICELLANEOUS group. Fortified blended foods are still listed under the BLENDED FOODS group.

Dietary Folate Equivalent (DFE) values for some special nutritional products have been updated.

Changes in fat requirements for young children: In NutVal 4.0 the nutritional requirements of additional age groups were introduced. These included 6-23, 24-59, and 6-59 months. Fat requirements were calculated for all groups according to UNHCR/UNUCEF/WFP/WHO (2002), i.e. as the % of energy that should be supplied from fat. For the general population the minimum percentage is specified as 17%, for pregnant and lactating women it is 20%, and for young children it is 30%. In NutVal 4.0 the definition of young child was taken as 6-23 months, as this was consistent with WHO definitions used in work on infant and young child feeding. However, this resulted in the fat requirements for these age groups being less than recommended by expert committees. In NutVal 4.1 it has been decided, for the purposes of calculating fat requirements, to define a 'young child' as aged between 6 and 59 months. This results in an increase in the fat requirements for these age groups and these higher requirement figures are included in NutVal 4.1.

Data saving: A bug which prevented the saving of nutrient values entered by the user on the calculation sheet has been fixed.

What's new in NutVal Version 4.0

New micronutrient requirements, taken from FAO/WHO (2004), have replaced the WHO (2000) Safe Levels of Intake used in version 3.

Nine additional nutrients have been included in the NutVal database for use in the analysis of nutrient adequacy.

Age group categories have been revised to make them more comprehensive, user-friendly, and consistent
with age groups that are used in programme design. Energy requirements
for the new age categories have been calculated using values from
FAO/WHO/UNU (2004).

Additional food items that have been requested by users have been included.

Data handling and the tracking database have been improved to allow the saving and recall of complete ration data.

New graphs for comparing different rations have been added.

Users can now add and remove additional rows in the Ration
Calculator, which allows NutVal to be used for more diverse food
assistance rations.

What's new in NutVal Version 3.0

Name change! From this release onwards it has been decided not to include the year of release as part of the NutVal name. This is to avoid confusion over version numbers and to make the naming approach more consistent with other, similar, software. We hope this change in how we name NutVal will also encourage all users to update whenever a new version is released, thereby ensuring they are using the most recent version for their planning and monitoring work.

Thirty-five new items have been added to the NutVal 3.0 database. These include a number of new WFP specifications for fortified blended foods. Entries for several pre-existing products have been updated using the latest data sheets from the manufacturers. Previous entries for WFP and US CSB and WSB have been deleted, along with some redundant or little used items (Amla and Snail). Following user requests, Mung beans and Pigeon peas have been added and the entry for Cowpeas re-named to make it easier to find.

Nutrition products for therapeutic feeding have also been added, along with the specification for ready to use therapeutic foods (RUTF) provided in the UN joint statement on Community Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (2007). These products are listed in the database under a new food group called 'Therapeutic'.

Other special nutrition products including products for targeted supplementary feeding, WFP Micronutrient Powder (MNP) specifications, and Lipid Nutrient Supplements (LNS) have also been added. These can be found under the 'Miscellaneous' food group.

The focus of NutVal remains the planning and monitoring of general food rations. The addition of these new special nutritional products is primarily to allow users to access composition data in a convenient format.

Two new population groups and requirements have been added. These are: the WFP nutrient requirements for primary school feeding programmes, and the WFP nutrient requirements for general feeding requirements for adults with HIV. (Additional age groups will be added in future updates.)

The general food ration energy adjustment spinner now increments in 5 kcal steps to make changing the energy target faster.

Several additional improvements have been made and the help pages have been updated to reflect the main changes.

What's new in NutVal 2006 Version 2.2

Some users may have experienced problems in running version 2.1 for the first time on computers with certain installations of Excel. This bug has been fixed in this upgrade. No other functionality has been changed.

What's new in NutVal 2006 Version 2.1

A bug that resulted in incomplete saving of the calculator work sheet has been fixed.

The nutrient composition for barley has been updated to bring it in line with the latest data from USDA.

What's new in NutVal 2006 Version 2

Food price data was included in earlier versions of NutVal. However, due to the recent sharp increases in food prices and continuing market volatility it is no longer possible to provide a meaningful FOB guide price for planning purposes. To prevent confusion this data has now been removed in version 2. Users are advised to obtain up to date food commodity, and transport and handling prices for planning and monitoring programmes.

An error which resulted in the kcal requirement for lactation being given as 300 kcal too high by the calculator has been corrected.

Minor text changes including links to the new NutVal web site and email address for technical support have been added to the front menu page.